How To Spot An Online Scam

Just input your credit card information here, driver license number, and social security, so we can verify your information and get your account started.

Now that might be a little overzealous but that’s certainly what it feels like with these scams out there sometimes, and it’s astounding the amount of people who fall victim to these.

It’s now becoming a MUST to learn how to spot an online scam when browsing the internet these days, so many people fall into the hype, fancy videos, or crazy promises these programs make that they end up overlooking major red flags.

These scammers know the rising popularity of online based business and shopping and they’re not letting this opportunity pass them up.

So it’s up to you to know how to spot a scam when you see one.

Now with these programs there are some basic things to look out for, there’s no such things as being “to safe” online, so here’s some things you should be on the lookout for while you’re online.

Need Personal Information For “Verification Purposes”

Now this is obvious but I couldn’t leave it out since this is a HUGE red flag. NEVER, and I mean NEVER give out your personal information when signing up for a program.

I don’t care how amazing or professional they look and sound, anyone can put together a nice looking site, create a nifty little sells video, and wright some sale copy and portray as the “next hot opportunity”.

Even if the site or E-mail is from is claiming to be a familiar brand or even the bank you’re with, if they’re asking for your personal information, just play it safe and go to the site you know to be true and sign in there, or you can even go to the extent of contacting the company and confirming the message to be legit or not.

It might seem a little tedious but a little effort can save you a ton of heartache down the road.

A thief has no problem taking your money,or your identity and just because they’re through a screen doesn’t make them any less threatening.

It’s A “Limited Time Opportunity”

We all know scarcity sells and can be an effective marketing strategy to move inventory, but there are some things to watch out for when you see a site making this claim.

They’ll usually be claims like “for this day only” or “once in a lifetime”, in big red letters. Scammers are notorious for giving a false sense of urgency to distract you from their true intention.

“Act now, we have only 3 spots left and we’re running out fast!”

-Almost every scam site ever.

One think I’ve always liked to do with sites that have a countdown timer or spots left counter, I like to exit the page and come back to see if the number has changed, and 90% of the time it doesn’t.

That is an obvious sign right there that they’re creating a false sense of urgency and should be further looked into before moving forward. (if you still even want to look into it by then.)

Look up member reviews, search for related keywords to the program or supposed sale, due your due diligence to ensure the choice you are making is the correct one.

Over Hyped- Just Too Good To Be True

Scammers know how to entice people’s dreams and feelings, they usually make the promises of having the next secret to making money online, generating massive amounts of income with minimal effort.

Promising fancy cars and big houses all while you just tap a couple keys on your keyboard, everyone knows the saying that “if it’s to good to be true it probably isn’t.”

They’re no such thing as easy success and making money online is no exception.

A lot of times instead of asking for personal information upon signing up they’ll ask if you can install some ‘free software” for their program to give you a little test run of their program.

Most of the time being a malware program and infecting your computer.

Big Online Sales For Popular Companies

You get a message from a well known brand saying they’re having this huge sale, and you should cash in on it, sounds awesome doesn’t it.

So if it’s in a message or e-mail you received, then it should be on the main site right? So visit the site and don’t use the link in the message.

It might seem a little drastic, but hear me out on this.

The reason I say go to the site yourself and not use the link provided in the message is because this can redirect you to a fraudulent site.

I’ve seen time and time again people on social media reposting or tweeting about this AMAZING deal they found on some big name brand, selling products for 50, 70, or even 90% off. But here’s the catch it only lasts for this day only…

So people click the link and they’re brought to what looks like the company site but it really isn’t, it can even be exact all the way down to the logos, and menu tabs, even a re-created shopping page just like the site.

So in their eagerness they purchase the product only to figure out they lost their money and never received the product or were given some cheap rip off of what they thought was going to be a high quality piece of merchandise.

This has actually become such a big issue that popular name brand’s like UGG have created their on counterfeit database where users can report fraudulent sites.

That’s right, that many people we’re getting ripped off for fake UGG’s that they had to make a site for it addressing the problem! If this isn’t a sign that you should take a few extra steps for security , than I don’t know what is.

You Never See Their Face

This is another common recurrence with these online scams, you never see their face.

Most of these will simply be a piece of sales copy with screenshots of edited bank accounts showing massive amounts of cash or fraudulent checks with huge payouts, but no face.

If you have such an INCREDIBLE program why not put your face behind it?

Heck if I created a program and new it could generate massive amounts of cash, I would have my face plastered all over it, I would be proud of what I created. So why hide?

The answer is obvious, they know what they’re doing isn’t legal so they’re not about to put their face out their, they want to stay as hidden as possible, get your money, and move on to the next scheme.

So if you can’t put a face to a program, then be cautious their might be a reason why they aren’t showing it.

Note: If they provide a name, become a detective, do some research on them, see if you can find any information on them. You’ll be surprised from how lazy the scammers get that they use the same fake identity for multiple programs leaving a trail of scams you could follow.

Wrapping Things Up…

I can only give you some of the things to look out for, but it’s up to you to use them. I can’t stress enough to my readers how important it is to be cautious online.

Although the internet can be a wonderful thing with some amazing opportunities it comes with a dark side.

So much in face that these scammers actually keep my quite busy. So if you have a suspected scam you want to report, feel free to contact me at the right sidebar, under “Contact Tyler” just click contact me and you can send me an e-mail from there.

If you’re curious what other programs are to watch out for out there or want to see some real scams for yourself feel free to check out my scam section by clicking the link in blue there.

Hopefully this has gave you a thing or two on how to spot scams online, and can save you from losing out on some of your hard earned money.

P.S. We have a serious Taco Bell addiction and the affiliate links on our site lets us order off the dollar menu. Thanks for your support!

About The Author

Tyler

An ex-broke college student turned online business owner, Tyler is a regular poster on Broke College Solutions. Usually taking a more creative approach to making money while in college he is our go-to guy for making money online.